This invention relates generally to scope mounts which are adapted to mount a scope onto a firearm; more specifically, it relates to a construction which is capable of being utilized on a wide variety of pistols, rifles and shotguns, and which does not require the special skills and tools normally possessed by a gunsmith.
It is well known to improve the accuracy that can be obtained in shooting a pistol or rifle by affixing a scope in such a way that the longitudinal axis of the scope is at least approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the firearm's barrel. Many rifles, for example, have scope mounting holes that are bored into the receiver of the rifle at the factory; such holes are then threaded in order to receive the screws/bolts that constitute the mounting device for the scope mount. However, not all guns have such pre-drilled and tapped holes. And, there are also occasions when the owner of a particular gun would prefer to avoid use of factory-drilled holes, especially if the use of those holes would necessarily dictate that something else (such as open sights that are provided as standard equipment on the rifle) has to be removed. Hence, there has long remained a need for a reliable way of mounting a scope on a rifle or other firearm--perhaps long after the rifle has left the factory, and maybe even after it has been used for hunting, target shooting and the like.
If a person is a skilled gunsmith, the addition of a scope mount to a rifle or pistol may offer only a minimal challenge, provided that everything goes right, and provided further that the heat treat of the steel in the firearm has not made it too hard to drill, and the tap that is being used to create threads in a bored hole does not break, etc. But without proper equipment and without the skill that comes from careful instruction and training, it is possible for a novice to completely ruin a firearm as a result of an imprudent move or the application of a careless force. For this reason, among others, it is desirable to build scope mounts that do not require the meticulous drilling and tapping of holes that are typical of the prior art. Such mounts are often advertised as "no gunsmithing" mounts, regardless of whether they are utilized by a gunsmith or an untrained person. It is a normal characteristic of such scope mounts that they are easy and fast to instal--by both trained and untrained personnel. If for no other reason than speed and economy, such no-gunsmithing mounts can be highly desirable.
One factor that has perhaps limited the widespread use of no-gunsmithing mounts is the manufacturing tolerances that are characteristic of firearms, e.g., plus or minus 0.010 inch for many dimensions. If a manufacturer of scope mounts attempted to accommodate such tolerances with designs of the prior art, there is a great chance that there would be too many cases of loose fits on some guns and interference fits on others. So, even though it has been known for quite some time that no-gunsmithing mounts would offer substantial economies, they have still not been designed and produced in the quantities that would appear to be expected. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a construction which is particularly adapted for mounting auxiliary sighting devices (including scopes and night-vision devices) on firearms without the need for specialized tools and skills of a gunsmith.
Another object is to provide a scope mount construction which has a great latitude of movement between relatively moing parts, in order that a great range of adjustments might be made within the mount itself.
Still another object is to foster repeatability in the alignment that is achieved between a sighting device (hereinafter often referred to for convenience as simply a scope) and a firearm--when the scope is repeatedly installed on and removed from the firearm.